Guess what the Saigonese happily stand in line for: bubble milk

Hundreds of people queue from 6 p.m. every day just to get a cup of brown-sugar drink at this streetside shop.

Every day at 6 p.m. on Tran Hung Dao Street, District 5, Ho Chi Minh City, people would come and line up on the sidewalk to buy brown sugar bubble milk from a small streetside shop. The shop opened a month ago and immediately became trendy.

The shop has no name, no chairs or tables. It is literally a stall serving takeaway drinks from baskets. The drinks have been prepared at home and the vendors only need to pour it into plastic cups and add ice for the standing customers. A cup costs VND20,000 ($0.87).

My Huynh, the owner, does all the preparation herself. “This is a new kind of drink from overseas and just got into Vietnam a few months ago. I added my own twist,” Huynh said. The drink is a mixture of tapioca balls, melted brown sugar, sugar-free fresh milk and ice.

"The chewy tapioca balls mixed with the sweetness of dark sugar creates a unique flavor,” said a 19-year-old customer. Most of the customers are millenials, but the line also has some old people and children.

"The long line made me curious, so I had to find out what’s so hot that attracts so many people,” said Thanh (pictured).

Huynh said many people would line up 30 minutes before opening. The shop sells about 500 to 700 cups a day. Each customer is only allowed to by a maximum of 10 drinks to make sure that other people do not have to wait for so long.